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J. Cardella

@cardellaj.bsky.social

600 followers 1.8K following 640 posts

I have a background in immigration & sociology and in my spare time I focus on the legal and social dimensions of citizenship. Posting in a personal capacity.

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · Nov 27

The cornerstone of American citizenship is equality before the law. Trump's vision of citizenship is hierarchical. From immigrant to immunity, this is my attempt at unpacking the law and sociology of Trump's project. citizenshipbrief.substack.com/p/from-immig...

From Immigrant to Immunity: A Trumpian Theory of Citizenship

A dizzying split-screen unfolded on April 25th when Donald Trump’s attorney argued before the Supreme Court that he had “absolute immunity” to break the law as president, while Trump himself sat in a ...

citizenshipbrief.substack.com

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 4h

The Conspirituality podcast just ran down this false conspiracy theory.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h

RFK Jr: "Somebody showed me a TikTok video of a pregnant woman at 8 months pregnant -- she's an associate professor at the Columbia Medical School -- and she is saying 'F Trump' and gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta. The level of Trump Derangement Syndrome is now a pathology."

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 7h

Exactly. These are mostly orders without substantive analysis. Very easy for the court to ignore in the future.

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 7h

This appears to be Congress and Racine, behind a UIC building.

shawn @mulchy.bsky.social · 8h

from the inbox:

masked federal agents yesterday evening dragged a person out of their car and tackled them in the street outside uic.

a handful of other agents looked on, at least one carrying an apparent rifle.

at the end of the clip, the person can be heard screaming, “help! help me! help!”

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 8h

ICE was at Racine and Harrison yesterday behind a UIC student services building

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 8h

ICE was at Racine and Harrison yesterday behind a UIC student services building

Reposted by J. Cardella

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 9h

“When the church kneels beside a leper, a malnourished child or an anonymous dying person, she fulfills her deepest vocation: to love the Lord where he is most disfigured.” - Pope Leo in Dilexi te

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 18h

Under this plan, a corrupt DOJ would probably provide legal cover to congressional republicans to refuse to seat the delegation.

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 20h

Two big GOP activists from Oregon were in DC last month for meetings with Trump admin officials. On their podcast they talk about a plan they discussed to nullify the results of Oregon's 2026 federal elections. Pass federal voter ID law, then refuse to seat OR delegation because OR didn't comply.

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
Also, we proposed a idea how to do a end run on vote by mail. Concept is based on what Trump proposed. When you vote, you check everyone's citizenship as well as voter ID.
In a vote by mail state, you might be able to check citizenship during voter registration. You can send copies of your passport and your birth certificate in.
How in the world are you going to check our voters?
Voter ID, right? Vote by mail. So that creates a problem for Oregon.
But if federal government new requirement is to check both, and if Oregon can comply with the requirements, what would happen to our election result? I'm talking about the entire federal delegation.
For federal elections, we're talking about only federal elections.
COMMON SENSE
Vascluar

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
So entire federal delegation, congressmen and senators could be challenged, could be unseated because you didn't follow federal requirements to elect them. So I said the trade-off is worth it. You know why?
Democrats control two Senate seats out of six congressional seats. We only control one. They control five.
You talk about trade-off, right?
COMMON SENSE
Sanctuany

Reposted by J. Cardella

AFGE Local 704 @704afge.bsky.social · 1d

Federal workers are not backing down. When we stick together and fight, like we did today, we know we can win!

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 22h

Seems like ICE might have been near UIC today. Racine and Congress.

Reposted by J. Cardella

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 1d

Pope Leo in new letter to Catholic Charities USA: Migrants are "living witnesses of hope" with an "intrinsic human dignity" who should be "invited to participate fully in community life."

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 1d

Not to minimize what’s already happened, but one of my core beliefs for Trump II is that Stephen Miller has genocidal intent. He’s going to push in that direction with whatever power he has. That’s his end goal.

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

Stephen Miller’s entire life has been building to the ecstatic moment where he gets to press a button and have some political dissident murdered. The ultimate power fantasy. He cannot be dissuaded from it, because he will always find his way back to it; it has the same magnetism as any other fetish.

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 1d

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 1d

Fantastic news

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 1d

The judge finds that because "defendants' conduct likely violates the First Amendnent," factors weigh in favor of entering a restraining order against them.

She will not limit the order to the Broadview facility, but will limit it to the northern (court) district of Illinois.

Reposted by J. Cardella

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 1d

Imagine the sadism necessary to be an armed federal agent, under no threat whatsoever, willing to shoot a priest in the head.

ICE is “a portrait of an authoritarian secret police that seems set to model itself on history’s worst fascist enforcers.” www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/welcome-to...

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 1d

The propaganda apparatus is a necessary part of large scale crimes against humanity. The means are entering the digital age but the dynamic is very old.

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 1d

ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.

Reposted by J. Cardella

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 1d

news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/g...

Grand Jury Declines to Indict Two Chicago-Area ICE Protesters (1)

A federal grand jury declined to indict two people charged with assaulting law enforcement agents outside a suburban Chicago ICE facility, an attorney for one of the defendants said.

news.bloomberglaw.com

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Reposted by J. Cardella

JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 1d

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for jailing Chicago's mayor and the governor of Illinois, both Democrats, as his administration prepared to deploy military troops to the streets of the third-largest U.S. city. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

www.reuters.com

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

This is a pretty concise summary of Trump’s conception of government: black letter law doesn’t matter, I’ll take care of the people I like and punish the people I don’t.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 2d

“.. we’re going to take care of our people,” Trump added. “There are some people that really don’t deserve to be taken care of. And we’ll take care of them in a different way.”

@thehill.com
thehill.com/homenews/adm...

Reposted by J. Cardella

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 2d

Breaking news: Furloughed federal workers are not entitled to automatic back pay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration argues, adding that a law Trump signed guaranteeing back pay to furloughed workers in 2019 does no such thing.

Federal workers not entitled to back pay after shutdown, budget office says

Federal workers may not be entitled to backpay after the government shutdown ends, the Trump administration’s budget office wrote in a new draft memo obtained by The Washington Post, ratcheting up ten...

wapo.st

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

I would bet against impoundment at the moment but I think Vought absolutely wants to do it. The difference between today and January/February is there’s confirmed cabinet and subcabinet officials in place who actually need their workforce.

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

I’d be curious whether any of those law firms that caved earlier this year are getting pressured to render some pro bono assistance.

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 2d

An update: Former FBI director and Trump antagonist James Comey is scheduled be arraigned tomorrow morning in federal court in Alexandria, Va. And still no career DOJ attorneys have entered an appearance in the case.

J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 2d

I’ve been cautiously pessimistic that furlough back pay is a target for impoundment.
www.govexec.com/pay-benefits...

OMB deletes reference to law guaranteeing backpay to furloughed feds from shutdown guidance

An Office of Management and Budget FAQ document now states that only excepted employees forced to work without pay are guaranteed backpay at the conclusion of a lapse in appropriations.

www.govexec.com

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Reposted by J. Cardella

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 3d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 3d

For as much as particular courts (including SCOTUS) allow Trump to act lawlessly, state bars and professional bar associations have been very strong bulwarks.

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 3d

It's a pretty big deal that the NYC Bar Association--one of the most prominent and respected bar associations in the country--is accusing the President of ordering the "unlawful summary execution," i.e. murder--of civilians in violation of US and international law. www.nycbar.org/press-releas...

Reposted by J. Cardella

Chibdm @chibdm.bsky.social · 3d

Robin Williams' daughter has some quality thoughts on AI slop

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J. Cardella @cardellaj.bsky.social · 3d

For what it’s worth, when I was at the Broadview detention facility a week ago, an ICE agent parked his car right in front of me, leisurely put on his mask, and then walked through the sparsely attended protest zone to report to work.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Stephen Miller claims that in Portland "ICE officers have to street battles against antifa, hand to hand combat every night, to come and go from their building"